The steering committee meets

Ginge Salud writes:

Let’s call it a successful meeting of minds at Barcino Forbestown in Bonifacio Global City. Considering that we called this get-together at such short notice, it was a well-attended gathering. Lara T. Parpan, Michelle B. Lazaro, Raquel Maloles-Aldaba, Rina Azcuna-Siongco, Liza Fernandez-Martinez, Ermin Punzalan-Velasco, Rowie Gallos-Marquez, Gem Hernandez-Abcede, Pelita Peralta-Uy, Analei Atienza, Anggie Mendoza-Guanzon, Cyrene de la Rosa, Mina Conchuwere there. Liza and I chaired the meeting.

In summary, we’re all agreed on a scaled-down Homecoming celebration. Taking into account today’s harsher times, the group agreed to incorporate the Homecoming must-haves (such as the mass, awarding of medals and the turnover of the batch donation) but skip the program with the song and dance numbers and a grand celebration in favor of a dinner-dance party. Off-hand, the idea of a Prom-themed dinner-dance appealed to the group, considering our 2010 Homecoming falls on Sunday, February 14.

While the exact beneficiary has not been named, Mitch broached the idea of uplifting the standards of a Scholastican education through programs that will help improve the quality of teaching – thus, we are looking at being able to support continuing education units, grants or short courses abroad for select faculty members. The group was agreeable with this and will find out more about needs such as this through future meetings with the SSAFI board members (St. Scholastica’s Alumni Foundation, Inc.). Target is to be able to name the beneficiary by year-end.

Also finalized was the amount we will target to raise. It was reiterated that an achievable goal be set, thus the amount of P1.0M. Any amount beyond this will be a welcome bonus and shall be disbursed accordingly. Given this, all were ready to get the ball rolling on the monthly membership contributions. Each batchmate’s commitment to pitch in shall be formalized via the Alumni Pledge form which has been posted on the blog: http://sschs85.blogspot.com.

Likewise, a Pay Pal account has been set-up, especially for batchmates abroad. For those in the country who wish to make regular payments through the Batch ‘85 account, bank details have also been posted on the site. Regular meetings building up to 2010 will continue to happen hence. We have officially mobilized so batchmates, get involved! It’s going to be an exciting year ahead – with lots of time to work together, although you may best see these as opportunities to catch up and get re-acquainted with one another.

We set a two-hour meeting, but actually finished this with all meeting objectives achieved in an hour, with lots of time to spare for catch up and sample some of Barcino’s wines. We all left more confident to take on the challenge posed by Homecoming 2010.

Please click here to view the minutes of this meeting for detailing the decision and agreements made. We’ll keep you posted!